"When elections are run in a way that people who want to vote cannot, there is a fundamental problem with the integrity of the entire election process."

In a case that is exposing divisions within the state’s Republican party, Congressional candidate Sharron Angle has filed papers in Washoe District court seeking to nullify the Aug. 15 Republican primary election.

According to the official results Angle lost in her bid to represent the Republican party in the the November general election for Nevada’s Second District U.S. House seat to Nevada’s current Secretary of State Dean Heller by just 421 votes.

Nevada Senator John Ensign, who lost in his first bid for the Senate by 428 votes in 1998, reported called Angle urging her to drop her plans to challenge the election. According to a Reno Gazette-Journal article Angle confirmed that "I indeed got a call from Senator Ensign. He told me that sometimes, you have to sacrifice your principles for the greater good.” Angle then pointed out that “Senator Ensign has never supported me in my elections previous to this one. He has the same campaign manager as Dean Heller.”

The article reported that in court papers, Angle attorneys Joel and Jonathan Hansen cite 17 reasons for nullification, including a lack of training for election workers, polling-place workers not showing up on time or not at all and registered Republicans not being given Republican ballots.

For his part, Ensign noted that he had spoken twice to Angle about her election challenge but had never asked Angle to sacrifice or compromise her principles. Although Ensign and Heller have the same campaign consultant, Ensign said he has remained neutral through the primary campaign.

"I believe that the principle here is that some unfortunate things have happened in this election, but it is time to move on and support the Republican nominee, who is Dean Heller," Ensign said. "But I never said to her that you have to compromise your principles because I don't believe in that."

Angle does have some support from the state party. "When elections are run in a way that people who want to vote cannot, there is a fundamental problem with the integrity of the entire election process," state GOP chairman Paul Adams said in the prepared statement Monday. "Sharron is in a position to expose and fix those problems, restoring the integrity that is critical to the election process."